Automatic start and stop device



Sept. 29, 1936. s. KOHN AUTOMATIC START AND STOP DEVICE 3 Sheets-Sheet 1Filed Nov. 29, 1929 T' I'ORNEY v INVENTOR 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 S. KOHN IAUTOMATIC START AND STOP DEVICE Filed NOV. 29, 1929 Sept. 29, 1936.

\ INVENTOR ,ATTORNEY Sept. 29, 1936. s. KOHN AUTOMATIC START AND STOPDEVICE Filed Nov. 29, 1929 s Sheets-Sheet s INVENTOR ATTORNEY PatentedSept. 29, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 14 Claims.

This invention relates to control devices, and more particularly to anautomatic start and stop device especially adapted for use onphonographs designed to accommodate records of the disk type.

It is an object of the invention to provide an automatic start and stopdevice in which the essential elements are mounted on a common pivot.

A further object is the provision of a control device for phonographswhich is adapted to satisfactorily operate when used in connection withany record of the disc type, regardless of the form of the recordconvolutions.

These and other objects are attained by the novel construction,combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter described and shown inthe accompanying drawings, constituting a material part of thisdisclosure, and in which:

Fig. 1 is a bottom plan view showing the device in an off position.

Fig. 2 is a similar View showing positions assumed by parts of thedevice during operation.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the device, showing a supporting base insection.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of an element of the device.

Fig. 5 is a plan view of a modified form employing a brake, a. portionof a turn table being broken away.

Referring to Fig. 3, a base I has journalled therein a shaft 8, to theupper end of which is carried a tone arm 9, supporting a reproducer andstylus as commonly used on phonographs. Fixed to the lower end of shaft8 and below the base 1 is an arm it having at its extremity a pin I I,the latter being adapted to enter a groove formed by the flanges l2 andI3 struck up from the arm M of a rocker rotatably mounted on a pivot pinl5 secured to the base plate 48. The other arm M of the rocker, see Fig.1, carries a roller l5 adapted to ride up onto and bear down on the flatspring I! to cause engagement of the contacts l8 and IE, to close acircuit through an electric motor designed to rotate shaft upon which iscarried the usual turn table 2| of a phonograph, adapted to accommodaterecords of the disc type.

Fixed to shaft 20 is a pinion 22 in mesh with a relatively large gear23, rotatably mounted on the under side of base plate 48, the gear 23having a downwardly extending pin 24 and a lug 25 of greater length thanthe pin 24 and nearer the center of the gear 23, the purpose of the lugand pin being hereinafter explained.

Rotatably mounted on pin I5 is a flat member .similar rotation to lever33, the latter being light 26' of peculiar configuration having an arm26 provided with an arcuate edge 21, and an arm 28 having a curved edge29.

Now, as the tone arm 9 is moved to place the stylus in the startingposition on a record, the pin l l bears against the inner side of theflange I3 to rotate the rocker clockwise, (Fig. 1) causing roller I6 tobring the contacts I8 and I9 into engagement to start an electric motor.As the playing of the record proceeds, tone arm 9 moves 10counter-clockwise (Fig. 1) and pin ll rides along edge 21 at first, andis finally directed upon the curved edge 29, causing member 26 to rotateclockwise (Fig. 2). Member 26' is fixed to a collar 30 rotatably mountedon pin l5, and lo the collar 30 is in frictional engagement with a fiatspring 3|, attached to a. lug 32 depending from a lever 33 (Figs. 1, 4).It will he therefore seen that rotation of member 26' will impart a inweight.

The lever 33 has an elongated slot 34 through which pin l5 passes, andan arcuate slot 35 in which is positioned a roller 36 rotatably mountedon a pin 37, which is attached to arm 28. The 25 roller 36 has adiameter equal to the width of slot 35 at each end, the slot 35gradually becoming wider until the point 38 is reached, where the slotis appreciably wider than the roller. By means of this construction, thelever 33 is initial- 30 1y held away from gear 23, but is graduallymoved towards gear 23 by the movement of roller 36 in slot 35.

At a predetermined point near the completion of the play of the record,the lever 33 has been urged towards gear 23 as far as possible. In themeantime, lever 33 has been rotated clockwise, which movement is limitedby the engagement of the edge 42 of a recess in the lever with a lug 43projecting downwardly from the base plate 48, in which position thelever presents a projection 45 in the path of lug 25 and as gear 23rotates, lug 25 sweeps lever 33 counterclockwise. However, the record isstill playing and the rotation of member 26 will cause the lever 33 toagain move clockwise, and projection 45 will again be placed in the pathof and struck by lug 25 when it makes a complete revolution. Thisperiodic engagement of lugs 45 and 25 continues until the stylus hasreached the last convolution of the record, which convolution is usuallycircular, and accordingly there will be no further advance of the tonearm, and arm 28 will remain stationary. When such condition maintains,the lever 33 will remain in a low- 5 cred position (Fig. 2) after beingswept by the lug 25. This position of the plate, as shown indot-and-dash lines in Fig. 2, presents the corner 46 in the path so thatit will be struck by lug 25, which action rotates lever 33 further in acounterclockwise direction so that the latter will engage lug 54attached to arm I4 and move roller IE to a position to allow contacts I8and I9 to disengage and open the circuit through the electric motor.

Now, when the reproducer is swung to the position beyond the turntablethe pin I I will engage the outer surface of the flange I3 and moves therocker arm III- until the pin engages against the inner surface of aflange I2 also struck up from the arm I4 and continued movement of thetone arm to its extreme position causes the pin II to nest itself in thecorner produced by flanges I2 and I2.

Obviously now, when the tone arm is again brought toward the startinglines of the record, the pin II will again contact with and ride againstthe inner surface of flange I3 as before explained. However, if the tonearm be moved back to initial position for any reason before the recordhas been completed, then the pin II will engage the inner surface offlange I2 and thus rock the arm so as to disengage the roller I6 fromfiat spring I! and thus allow contacts I8 and I9 to disengage to openthe circuit.

Certain makes of disc records have the final convolution in the shape ofa spiral, or eccentric in which case the tone arm is given a rapidcounter-clockwise movement resulting in a rapid clockwise movement ofthe arm 28 and the lever 33. In order that it will not be necessary towait for the turntable to stop until the record has revolvedsufliciently to cause lug 25 to sweep projection to present the corner46 into the path of lug 25, a pin 24 is provided on gear 23 and the pinwill engage the projection 39 on a flat spring 40 attached to anupturned portion M of the lever 33 to move the latter to a position tocause an opening of the circuit through the electric motor.

The pin 31 is movable in a slot 41 in the base plate 48 and in a slot inthe base I, the pin having attached to its upper end a pointer 49. Now,when it is desired to render the automatic control device inoperative,the pin 31 is moved to the extreme upper end of slot 41, (Fig. 1) tomove arms 26 and 28 out of the path of pin II.

Lugs 55 and 56 are provided on the base plate 48 to serve as limit stopsfor the switch arm I4.

In the modification shown in Fig. 5, the rocker is provided with an armI4w, carrying a roller IBa adapted to rideup on a spring 5|, which willresiliently hold the arm I 4a in that position. Fixed to the arm M11 isa rod 52 projecting upwardly through an aperture in the base I to aposition adjacent the downturned flange on the turntable, and a leatherbrake shoe is carried by the upper extremity of rod 52. While the recordis being played, the spring 5| holds the arm I4a in a position to renderthe brake shoe 53 inefiective. At the completion of the record, theaction of lug 25 on the corner 46 of the lever 33 causes the arm Ida tobe moved off of spring 5I to a position where the spring will act uponthe arm I4a to cause brake shoe 53 to be forced against the flange ofthe turntable to stop the rotation of the latter.

The foregoing disclosure is to be regarded as descriptive andillustrative only, and not as restrictive or limitative of theinvention, of which obviously an embodiment may be constructed including modifications without departing from the general scope hereinindicated and denoted in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is:

1. The combination with a rotating element and a swinging element, of agear driven by the rotating element, a lug, and at least one pin carriedby said gear, a lever, an electric switch and a switch arm, means on theswinging element to engageithe switch arm to close the switch when theswinging element is moved toward the rotating element, means on thelever for engagment with the lug to move the switch arm in the oppositedirection to open the circuit upon cessation of the forward movement ofthe swinging element, and additional means on the lever for engagementwith'the pin upon any increase in the normal speed of the swingingelement to move the switch arm to open the circuit.

2. The combination with a rotating element and a swingingelement, of agear, a lever, an electric switch and a switch arm, means on the switcharm to engage the swinging element to close the switch when the swingingelement is moved toward the rotating element, and means on the lever formoving the switch arm in the opposite direction to open the circuit uponcessation of the forward movement of the swinging element, and meanscarried by said leverfor engagement with said pin upon any increasesover the normal speed of the swinging element to move the switch armto'open the switch.

3. In combination with a phonograph, having a tone arm, an automaticstart and stop device comprising an arm associated with the tone arm tofollow the movement thereof, a base plate, a pivot pin fixed to the baseplate, a rocker mounted on the pin and adapted to be engaged by the armto close an electric circuit, a cam member mounted on the pin andadapted to rotate by engagement with the arm, a collar on the cammember, a plate mounted on the collar, a fiat spring fixed tothe plateand frictionally engaging the collar to cause the plate to rotate withthe cam member, a ing moving in a circular path adjacent the free end ofthe plate and adapted to strike a projection on the plate at apredetermined time, and subsequently striking another portion of theplate when the movement of the tone arm has ceased, and a lug on therocker engageable by the plate to cause an opening of the electriccircuit.

4. In combination with a phonograph having a tone arm, means controlledby the tone arm to close an electric circuit, a cam member and a platerotatably mounted on a common axis, means associated with the tone armfor rotating the cam member, frictional means connecting the member andplate to cause the plate to follow the movements of the cam member,means engaging a projection on the plate to rotate the plate oppositelyto the rotation of the cam member when the tone arm has reached apredetermined position, and means associated with'the plate to open theelectric circuit when the movement of the tone arm has ceased.

5. In an automatic start and stop device, a rotatable arm, a plate and acam member all mounted on a common axis, means to cause the cammembertofollow the movement of the arm,

frictional means to cause the plate to follow the movement of the cammember, means acted upon by the arm to close an electric circuit, and amovable lug adapted to engage the plate to cause it to rotate in adirection opposite to the rotation of the cam member and open theelectric circuit when the movement of the arm has ceased.

6. In an automatic start and stop device, a rotatable arm, a plate and acam member mount ed on a common axis, means to cause the cam member tofollow the movement of the arm, frictional means to cause the plate tofollow the movement of the cam member, means acted upon by the arm toclose an electric circuit, a detent extending from the surface of theplate, and a rotatable pin adapted to engage the detent to cause theplate to rotate in a direction opposite to the rotation of the cammember and open the electric circuit whenever the speed of the arm isincreased over its normal speed.

7. In an automatic start and stop device, a rotatable arm, a plate and acam member mounted on a common axis, means to cause the cam member tofollow the movement of the arm, frictional means to cause the plate tofollow the movement of the cam member, means acted upon by the arm toclose an electric circuit, and a movable lug adapted to engage the plateto cause it to rotate in a direction opposite to the rotation of the cammember and open the electric circuit when the movement of the arm hasceased, a detent extending from one surface of the plate, and arotatable pin adapted to engage the detent to cause the plate to rotatein a direction opposite to the rotation of the cam member and open theelectric circuit whenever the speed of the arm is increased over itsnormal speed.

8. In combination with a swinging element and a rotating element, meansfor automatically starting the rotating element through movement of theswinging element, and alternative means for stopping the rotatingelement either automatically through any departure from the normalforward movement of the swinging element while traversing the areabounded by the initial sound groove of a record on the rotating elementor through manual movement of the swinging element outwardly beyond theinitial sound groove of said record.

9. In combination with a swinging element and a rotating element, meansfor automatically starting the rotating element through a movement ofthe swinging element and alternative means for automatically stoppingthe rotating element either through the cessation of movement of theswinging element or through any increase over the normal forwardmovement of the swinging element.

10. The combination with a swinging element, a rotating element, andmeans for automatically starting the rotating element, of alternativemeans for stopping the rotating element automatically or manually by anydeparture from the normal movement of the swinging element.

11. In combination with a rotating element and a swinging element, a lugand a pin rotated by the rotating element, a stud, a lever looselypivotally carried by said stud, a member frictionally associated withsaid lever, said member being actuated by the swinging element to rotatethe lever, said lever also being independently actuated to open anelectric circuit alternatively when the swinging element moves forwardat a speed greater than its normal speed or when the swinging elementceases to move.

12. In combination with a rotating element and a swinging element, a lugand at least one pin rotated by the rotating element, a stud, a leverloosely pivotally carried by said stud and a member frictionallyassociated with said lever, said member being actuated by the swingingelement to rotate the lever in one direction, said lever also beingindependently actuated in the opposite direction to open an electriccircuit alternatively by the lug when the swinging element ceases tomove, or by the pin when the swinging element moves forward at anincreased rate of speed.

13. In combination with a rotating element and a swinging element, a lugand at least one pin rotated by the rotating element, a stud, a leverloosely pivotally carried by said stud, and a member being actuated bythe swinging element to rotate the lever in one direction, said leveralso being independently actuated in the opposite direction to stop therotating element alternatively by the lug when the swinging elementceases to move, or by the pin when the swinging element moves forward atan increased rate of speed.

14. In combination with a rotating element, and a swinging element, alug rotated by the rotating element, a stud, a lever loosely pivotallycarried by said stud, a member frictionally asso-

